The present invention relates to a food serving device and, in particular, a combination plate and liquid container the central portion of the plate formed to either receive and secure the bottom of the container on its upper surface or the top of the container or its bottom surface.
On many occasions food is served buffet or cafeteria style. A person picks up the plate at the start of the serving line. The food is placed on the plate as the person moves along the serving line. At the end of the line the person picks up eating utensils and a container of a drink, such as water or a beverage. The person must then juggle the plate, the utensils and the beverage container either while searching out a place to eat or while actually eating from the plate and drinking from the container. Quite often, this means eating and drinking while supporting the plate on the person's lap or with the container grasped between the person's legs.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,955,672 issued to Keene N. Brundage teaches a plate assembly comprised of a body and cup support member integrally formed with the body. The body is provided with a channel which functions to receive the forearm of the user for support of the plate assembly. The cup support member protrudes into the interior of the channel and functions as a grasping means for balancing the plate assembly when it is positioned on the forearm of the user.
This teaching is an advance over the prior art, but still leaves a wide area for improvement in this art. The plate provides a considerable amount of unusable food surface when considered with a given overall diameter because of the divider and the channel provided to receive the forearm of the user; the weight of the overall device is shifted off center when either the drink is consumed or removed from the plate and the plate still contains food or when the food is removed and the cup still contains a beverage; the divider channel has no use when the user does not desire a drink; the cup must be removed from the plate engagement when the plate is positioned on a planar surface; under certain weight distribution situations, the cup could become disengaged from the plate and the plate would then be allowed to tip causing food to be displaced therefrom; other disadvantages will become apparent when consideration is given to the following disclosure of the present invention.